Gamecocks fall to Wildcats in Odom's final home game

COLUMBIA — Dave Odom's home tenure as South Carolina's basketball coach ended with a whimper.

In Odom's swansong inside the Colonial Center, Kentucky's Joe Crawford scored a career-high 35 points and the Wildcats cruised to a 71-63 victory before an announced crowd of 13,324.

After the Gamecocks went without a field goal for 8:42 in the first half — thanks in part to a harassing perimeter defense from Kentucky — the Wildcats seized hold of the game.

South Carolina used a 12-2 run midway through the second half to twice cut the deficit to five.

But Kentucky answered with a Ramel Bradley 3-pointer at the 2:44 mark that rattled in as the shot clock ran down to extend the lead to eight and allow the Cats to scamper away with the win.

To complement Crawford's career day, Bradley had 20 points. Together, Crawford and Bradley combined to hit seven 3-pointers and 16 of 18 free throws.

"It was too much Joe Crawford and too much Ramel Bradley," Odom said. "Those guys controlled the game. They're both heralded players and have played four years of great basketball at UK."

Even without injured post Patrick Patterson, Kentucky continues to make its claim as an NCAA Tournament-worthy team.

The Wildcats are just 17-11 overall, but they're a gaudy 11-4 in SEC play.

They've won 10 of 12 in recent league play, with their only losses coming at Vanderbilt and Tennessee.

On the flip side, South Carolina (13-16, 5-10) has lost five of seven and three of its last four.

Georgia beat Auburn on Wednesday night. If the Bulldogs upset Ole Miss on Saturday, there'll be a coin flip to determine fifth place in the SEC East.

With Wednesday's loss, USC finishes the year 8-9 inside the Colonial Center — the first time they've had a losing record in this building. They last had a losing record at home in 1993-94, when USC still played at the neighboring Carolina Coliseum.

On Wednesday, the Wildcats particularly frustrated USC guard Devan Downey.

"They had an excellent gameplan. It was almost like our players were disappointed that they weren't going to play us straight-up," Odom said. "It was almost like our perimeter guys were mad because they weren't allowed to play."

Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie employed long-armed wing Ramon Harris to guard Downey, often keeping the All-SEC guard candidate from even catching a pass in USC's half-court offense. If Downey got past Harris, equally long-armed Derrick Jasper was waiting.

"Downey had three assists to four turnovers, and the Gamecocks finished with a season-low six assists. Downey finished with nine points."

"I don't think anybody can guard Downey," Gillispie said. "I think the only way you can guard him is helping the ball away from him. ... I thought Ramon did the best job you can do."

South Carolina's lone senior, Dwayne Day, was honored before the game. But it was another senior, Crawford, who shined on the floor.

He had 15 in the first half, adding 20 in the second half with eight free throws included. Including three of his four 3-pointers, Crawford had 15 of his team's first 20 points to begin the final half.

Crawford didn't play in the teams' first game, a 78-70 Kentucky win Jan. 26 in Lexington. He was nursing a sprained ankle.

Wednesday, Kentucky was playing its second game without Patterson. The freshman standout has a stress fracture in his foot and is out for the year.

Without Patterson's presence, emerging USC post Mike Holmes was again allowed to assert himself.

Following up a career-high 18 points in Saturday's win at Auburn, Holmes had 16 points and 10 rebounds against the Wildcats. It's the freshman's third double-double in four games.

Zam Fredrick led USC with 19 points.

Alongside Day, Odom was honored at midcourt prior to the game. For his seven years, which included a pair of NIT titles, he received a standing ovation with his wife Lynne, his son Ryan and his grandchildren.

Odom, who announced Jan. 18 that he would retire at season's end, will coach his final regular-season game Sunday at No. 4 Tennessee.

Reach Travis Haney at thaney@postandcourier.com.

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